PayPal and Amazon are two of the giants of the modern age, and you might imagine you could easily use them in tandem with each other. But it’s not that simple at all.
Does Amazon accept PayPal payments? No, you cannot link both accounts directly – although there are several workarounds.
This article will explain how to use PayPal to check out on Amazon, including with a PayPal card or an Amazon Gift Card. It’ll also introduce one alternative card you can use, from Wise.
Get a Wise Account today
Can you use PayPal on Amazon?
The very short answer is no: Amazon clearly states that it doesn’t accept PayPal as a payment method¹ - if you make a purchase through the site, you won’t be given PayPal as a payment option.
However, there are various ways you can get around this. If you have money in your PayPal balance that you want to spend on Amazon, you might still be in luck. We’ll go through a few of your options in a moment.
Why doesn’t Amazon take PayPal directly?
It’s annoying, isn’t it? There’s no concrete answer, but some background could help explain that option: going back a few years, PayPal started out as a part of eBay – which was, and still is, a major rival of Amazon’s. So integrating PayPal would have aided one of Amazon’s chief competitors.
These days, there might be another reason – online payment is yet another area into which Amazon is expanding. As Amazon Pay grows in stature, PayPal and Amazon will start to seem more and more like direct competitors.
How to use PayPal on Amazon?
You can pay with PayPal on Amazon through any of several different workarounds. All the methods take advantage of alternative payment methods that these companies both provide. You can²:
- Use a PayPal Cash Card or Business Debit Mastercard
- Use PayPal Key
- Buy an Amazon Gift Card
How to use a PayPal Cash Card on Amazon
A PayPal Cash Card is a debit card for US customers of PayPal. As you’d expect, it lets you use your PayPal funds to pay for stuff in stores or online³. And, being a standard debit card, of course you can use it on Amazon, just like you would any other card.
That’s a great solution if you often have money kicking around in your PayPal account that you want to spend on Amazon. The disadvantage, of course, is that it’s yet another set of card details to remember and carry around with you. Getting a whole new card is arguably quite an extreme solution if literally all it’s for is buying stuff on Amazon.
In the same way, you could consider the PayPal Business Debit Mastercard, which does much the same thing as the PayPal Cash Card, but is specifically for business users.
An alternative card you can use on Amazon
If you’re considering getting a debit card for Amazon purchases, you shouldn’t think that PayPal is your only option.
Wise also offers a debit card for a one-time fee⁸, which you can use in online or physical stores.
And even better, if you pay in foreign currencies, you’ll always get the mid-market exchange rate. In fact, the card is tied to the Wise Account, which makes sending and receiving international payments a breeze.
How to use PayPal Key on Amazon
A slightly different solution is PayPal Key. This is a virtual card that can only be used online or over the phone, so you don’t get an extra piece of plastic to carry around with you. It uses the Mastercard network, so you can use it online just like a standard Mastercard – so paying on Amazon is no problem⁴.
This is probably a bit less hassle than getting a whole new debit card, so might be a smoother solution to sorting you out on Amazon.
Buy an Amazon gift card with PayPal
Alternatively, you can use PayPal at an earlier stage of the purchase process. Amazon Gift Cards are widely available online, and not just at Amazon itself. Buy one at a site like Dundle⁵ or My Gift Card Supply⁶ and you’ll be able to check out using PayPal. You can even buy Amazon gift cards on eBay.
Then you can just use your Gift Card on Amazon. You can add a Gift Card to your Amazon account balance at any time, and the amount you have on it will go toward future purchases that you make. Here’s a step-by-step to do it:
- Go to Amazon website and log into your account
- Click on your name (top right corner) and select Your Account
- Go to the Gift Cards square
- Insert the gift card code and click to redeem it.
Can you use PayPal Credit on Amazon?
Actually, you can’t really do this. PayPal Credit is a specific service that lets you use your PayPal account to pay for stuff on credit, just like you would with a credit card, but it’s only available to use at PayPal-accepting stores.
Amazon isn’t a PayPal-accepting store, so you can’t really use it there. If you want to use PayPal Credit for Amazon purchases, you’ll need to use one of the workarounds above.
That’s not necessarily a good idea, though: using PayPal for Amazon purchases is really only worthwhile if you already have money in your PayPal account that you want to spend. Otherwise, it’s probably going to be easier to use an alternative payment option, like a standard credit or debit card.
Conclusion: using PayPal on Amazon
So, can you use PayPal on Amazon? Sort of, although it’s not as convenient as simply clicking that “Pay with PayPal” button you might have been expecting to see.
But there are still relatively simple and convenient ways you can use your PayPal balance to buy things on Amazon.
Need to pay in different currencies? Use Wise
With banks and companies like PayPal, you often get hefty fees for foreign payments. And if you’ve already tried managing multiple accounts in multiple countries, you know it’s rarely simple to do it with most providers.
With Wise, a Money Service Business, opening an account has no monthly fees⁸. There, you can manage and send dozens of different currencies, all from the same account. All around the world. Different from PayPal, there's no spread when converting your money, so you always get the mid-market exchange rate.
Check out the benefits of using Wise Account and start saving today.
Learn more about Wise
Sources (last checked on 31 January 2023):
1.Payment methods not accepted by Amazon
2.PayPal: how to check out with PayPal on Amazon
3.PayPal: what is PayPal Cash Card
6.Mygiftcardsupply: Amazon gifts
*Please see terms of use and product availability for your region or visit Wise fees and pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information. This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Wise Payments Limited or its subsidiaries and its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional. We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether expressed or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.
)
